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Vidtec
U.S. Games Corporation was a video game company founded by Donald Yu, which originally produced handheld electronic sports games. It pivoted to focus exclusively on video game software in 1981, and was acquired by cereal company Quaker Oats in 1982 to develop games for the Atari 2600. U.S. Games released their first game, ''Space Jockey'' for the Atari 2600, in January 1982, followed by 13 more cartridges in 1982 and 1983. ''Space Jockey'' and other early titles used the Vidtec brand name. Although sometimes cited as an example of non-technology companies attempting to produce video games, Quaker purchased U.S. Games to work with its Fisher-Price toy brand and compete with rival cereal company General Mills's Parker Brothers division. Unlike U.S. Games, Parker Brothers was experienced in producing family and licensed games. It had a very successful 1982 in the video game market, with hits like ''Frogger'' and '' The Empire Strikes Back''. U.S. Games's titles sold poorly, and Qu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Word Zapper
''Word Zapper'' is an Atari 2600 game written by Henry Will IV and published under the Vidtec label of U.S. Games in 1982. ''Word Zapper'' is a mixture of spelling and arcade gaming, in which a word appears at the bottom of the screen and then letters scroll across the top which can be shot to spell words. Gameplay The player controls a spaceship-like "Zapper" which can move about the screen and shoot up, left, and right. The objective is to shoot the letters that spell the current word, in order, while shooting or avoiding asteroids in the lower portion of the screen. There are four types of asteroids, and each has a different effect if it comes into contact with the Zapper. The "Doomsday" asteroid ends the game. The "Scroller" asteroid mixes up the scrolling letters for five seconds. The "Zonker" and "Bonker" asteroids knock the Zapper to the side. The game ends after being hit by a doomsday asteroid, after the 99 second timer runs down, or the ultimate goal of completing thre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Jockey (video Game)
''Space Jockey'' is a horizontally scrolling shooter designed by Garry Kitchen for the Atari VCS (renamed to the Atari 2600 later in the year). It was published under the Vidtec brand of U.S. Games in 1982 as the initial release from the company. The game shipped on a 2K cartridge at a time when most VCS games were 4K. Atari, Inc. stopped internal development of 2K games for the console in 1980. ''Space Jockey'' was the first video game written by Kitchen. He went on to program the 2600 port of ''Donkey Kong'' for Coleco. Gameplay The player controls an "attack saucer" that flies to the right over scrolling, undulating terrain. The saucer only moves vertically and stops just before it hits the ground. The goal is to shoot ground-based tanks and flying enemies: jet planes, propeller planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons. Trees and houses appear on the ground as obstacles which can also be destroyed. Reception ''Space Jockey'' was one of three runners-up for the "Best Scie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Games
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedback mostly commonly is shown on a video display device, such as a TV set, computer monitor, monitor, touchscreen, or virtual reality headset. Some computer games do not always depend on a graphics display, for example List of text-based computer games, text adventure games and computer chess can be played through teletype printers. Video games are often augmented with audio feedback delivered through loudspeaker, speakers or headphones, and sometimes with other types of feedback, including haptic technology. Video games are defined based on their computing platform, platform, which include arcade video games, console games, and PC game, personal computer (PC) games. More recently, the industry has expanded on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quaker Oats Company
The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. Schumacher founded the German Mills American Oatmeal Company in Akron, Ohio, and Stuart founded the North Star Mills in Hearst, Rupert's Land. In 1870, Schumacher ran his first known cereal advertisement in the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper. In 1877, the Quaker Mill Company of Ravenna, Ohio was founded. "The name was chosen when Quaker Mill partner Henry Seymour found an encyclopedia article on Quakers and decided that the qualities described — integrity, honesty, purity — provided an appropriate identity for the company's oat product." Quaker Mill Company held the trademark on the Quaker name. In Ravenna, Ohio, on 4 September 1877, Henry Seymour of the Quaker Mill Company applied for the first trademark for a breakfast cereal, "a man ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Development Companies
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Defunct Video Game Companies Of The United States
{{Disambiguation ...
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Companies Disestablished In 1983
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical video ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Video Game Companies Established In 1982
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) systems which, in turn, were replaced by flat panel displays of several types. Video systems vary in display resolution, aspect ratio, refresh rate, color capabilities and other qualities. Analog and digital variants exist and can be carried on a variety of media, including radio broadcast, magnetic tape, optical discs, computer files, and network streaming. History Analog video Video technology was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) television systems, but several new technologies for video display devices have since been invented. Video was originally exclusively a live technology. Charles Ginsburg led an Ampex research team developing one of the first practical video ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entombed (1982 Video Game)
''Entombed'' is an Atari 2600 game designed by Tom Sloper and programmed by Steven Sidley. It was released in 1982 by U.S. Games. It involves a player moving through a maze and avoiding enemies. The game's perplexing maze generation algorithm has attracted academic study. Gameplay The player moves downward through a continuously vertically-scrolling maze with vertical symmetry, trying to get as far as possible while avoiding enemies that move across the screen; if the player contacts a monster, they die and the game is over. The maze will continually scroll upwards on the screen, and while the player can move in any direction, this scrolling action may leave the player stuck in a dead-end; if the player's position scrolls off-screen, then the game is also over. The player can collect a "make-break" item, represented by a large dot, that can remove a wall space and allow the player to proceed out of a dead-end. In two-player mode, both players are in the maze at once. Legacy Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eggomania
''Eggomania'' is an action video game released in January 1983 by U.S. Games for the Atari 2600. Similar in design to '' Kaboom!'', which itself is a derivative of the arcade game ''Avalanche'', the objective is to catch eggs in a hat which are thrown by a chicken. Gameplay At the end of each round, the player has a chance to throw the eggs they have caught back at the chicken for bonus points. The speed of the game increases as the player progresses. The game has two difficulties; the easier variation gives the player a larger hat for catching eggs. Reception ''Electronic Games'' in June 1983 called ''Eggomania'' "delightful," stating that the game improved on '' Kaboom!'' and ''Avalanche'' as a "fully-animated delight that might even eclipse its inspiration" with "state-of-the-art graphics on the 2600". See also * ''Chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Cey ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gopher (video Game)
''Gopher'' is an Atari 2600 game written by Sylvia Day and published by U.S. Games in 1982. The player controls a shovel-wielding farmer who protects a crop of three carrots from a gopher. Gameplay The gopher tunnels left and right and up to the surface. When he makes a hole to the surface he will attempt to steal a carrot. The farmer must hit the gopher to send him back underground or fill in the holes to prevent him from reaching the surface. If gopher has taken any of the three carrots, a pelican will occasionally fly overhead and drop a seed which, if the farmer catches it, he can plant it in the place of the missing carrot. The longer the game, the faster the gopher gets. The game ends when the gopher successfully removes all three carrots. There are two skill levels and is for one or two players, giving a total of four game variations. Reception Legacy An unlicensed version was released by Zellers in Canada and was called ''Farmer Dan''. it uses the box art of ''Plaqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Towering Inferno (video Game)
''Towering Inferno'' is an Atari 2600 game designed by Jeff Corsiglia and programmed by Paul Allen Newell and released by US Games in 1982. The player controls a fireman going through a burning skyscraper to save victims and put out the fires. The game was produced under a licence obtained from 20th Century Fox by Quaker Oats, the parent company of US Games, for the video game rights to the movie of the same name. Newell also programmed '' Entombed'' for the 2600 and the Vectrex port of ''Scramble''. Gameplay On each floor of the building, the player must put out the flames and reach the panel that opens the doors to get back out. While doing so, there is a meter at the top showing how many people are on that floor. The longer it takes a player to open the doors and get out, the more the meter decreases. The object is to work as fast as you can while avoiding and putting out flames to open the doors and escape with the most people remaining on the meter. The game can be played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
